God Is One Mind

There is One Mind and each of us is one of Its Ideas.

Not just us humans, however. The animals, plants, mountains, and rivers. The stars and atoms, galaxies and electrons. Everything is an Idea of the One Mind.

It is difficult for some of us to say "God thinks each of us into being" without feeling like we're falling back on childhood Sunday school stories. The aftereffects of coming to terms with the need to break out of naive belief systems can cause us to knee-jerk away from pat answers and anything resembling the old bearded patriarch sitting in Heaven.

I know I don't care for the word God unless I really work it into a fuller frame of reference.

I met an Aborigine in the Outback many years ago who asked me, as we sat on a red rock in the middle of nowhere smoking hand-rolled cigarettes and baking like lizards in the mid-morning sun, "What are you going to be when you die?"

I confessed I'd never thought about it quite like that and passed the ball back to him. He replied, blowing a cloud into the sky: "Out there," he said, pointing deeper into the desert, "there is a hidden stream coming out of a mountain. It runs through great red boulders and between giant white gum trees. Every morning a breeze washes up that ravine and every evening a breeze washes down that ravine. I will be that breeze that runs down the ravine in the evening when I die."

I took this in, adding it to what little I already knew, and asked, "So the red boulders and gum trees and breeze that runs up the ravine in the morning and the stream itself--all those are your relatives and other loved ones?" To which he merely nodded matter-of-factly, as if I'd asked if he'd seen any sand lately.

The first law of thermodynamics is that matter-energy can neither be created nor destroyed--only transformed. The laws of nature are no different than any of the other Ideas within the One Mind. They all reflect one another in the Indra's Net world view: existence is an infinite net with a perfect jewel at each of its knots and the net is arranged so that each jewel reflects every other jewel and is reflected by every other jewel, all at the same time that the whole of the jewels is reflected in every one of the jewels.

My friend in the Outback had grasped the axle of existence. As an Idea in the One Mind of what he calls Dreamtime, he can neither be created nor destroyed, merely transformed. He saw, too, that each of the Ideas--ravine, stream, boulders, trees, wind, humans--is equal, interchangeable in form, eternally incarnating in new bodies of the Beloved, light reflected among all the infinite jewels of the Mind Net.

Nowadays we have the neo-animist movement which uses the phrase "other-than-human-persons" to reflect the worldview of the presence of the One Mind. It is a

... phrase coined by Irving Hallowel, Influenced by the Ojibwe of southern-central Canada. It refers to the widest possible community of living beings. For example, in the Ojibwe Language not only are humans, animals, fish, birds, and plants living, relational beings, but so too are objects-persons such as rocks and certain weather systems (the thunder-beings). The word spirits is sometimes attached to other words, as in rock spirit or tree spirit, to suggest that some rocks or trees are different from others. Hallowell's phrase has gained currency because it does not misrepresent the indigenous thought and experience that some rocks, trees, and storms, act as persons: that is, as relational, intentional, conscious, and communicative beings. This worldview and lifeway is now being called animism (Graham Harvey and Robert J Wallis: Historical Dictionary of Shamanism)

This leap of faith, away from seeing the world as dead matter and all its plants and animals as mindless resources, carries us into a new appreciation of the emotional connectedness with the sacred. Far from experiencing our life as alienated beings in a hostile world, we find ourselves in the ever-moving center of an omnipresent sphere of communion. The atoms and electrons that make up my body are fourteen billion years old. They come from other humans, animals, plants, soil, water, air, other planets, the sun, other stars. They make up this body but they come from the very Big Bang itself, just like all the other Ideas in the One Mind. And, just like all the ideas in my mind have a life of their own and intermingle to form more complex ideas, the Ideas in the One Mind have a life of their own and intermingle, electrons and cells and growing flesh and consciousness itself arising from the ever-evolving array of more complex Ideas.

A rabbi long ago was asked, "What is the secret of life?" To which he replied, "Everything is God. Live well. Die easy."

Everything is God. I champ at the bit at this. Until I put it in terms of neo-animism.

Moses stands on the holy mountain and is confronted by a burning bush. He doesn't recognize it, so it announces itself, "Am That I Am." I get it now. We are all standing on the holy mountain. We are everywhere confronting the radiance of spirit-in-matter announcing it's uncreated and indestructible presence, I Am That I Am. I get it now. It is all a burning bush and it is always speaking to us. May we continue to learn to better attune our senses to its voice.

What will I be when I die?

I'm still working on the answer. But it goes without saying that it involves sinking deeper into the spirit-matter that miraculously makes up the One Body of this One Mind that is thinking me.

The Toltec I Ching, by Martha Ramirez-Oropeza and William Douglas Horden has just been released by Larson Publications. It recasts the I Ching in the symbology of the Native Americans of ancient Mexico and includes original illustrations interpreting each of the hexagrams. Its subtitle, 64 Keys to Inspired Action in the New World hints at its focus on the ethics of the emerging world culture.

 

Comments

[leonor]

William,

I am inspired and moved by that question..."What will I be when I die?" As my folks age and approach their deaths, I pray that they die with peace in their hearts and that they know how much love they shared with
us. Your question made me reflect on the sweetness of life and all of its various forms. I want to be
water running thru all creation and blessing all with its nourishment.

Thank you for your wisdom and your insight!
Leonor

[William Horden - Huffpost Blogger]

leonor—

your heartfelt desire to benefit others with your intent and actions is inspirational. i join with others in wishing your parents the kindest and most peaceful passing ever. may life use you well!

all my best,
wm

[fPrattX863]

Thanks for the enlightening and true words that reverberate here. We as a species are continuing to look at things increasingly aware of the nature of our potential for union. It is beyond words and the limitations encased by them (words as defining or categorizing that describe difference between us and creation) that we must struggle for our relationship with our species and all that is the force in existence. The comments to this blog posted above ring in accord with Williams words and give encouragement and a sense of the divinity within and before us. Our short stay on the planet has been both inspiring to union and stunningly dark in our declaration of ourselves as superior above all that is before us and the seemingly infinite divisions between self and "other.". Of course, Williams words speak to our ability to embrace life in all forms and walk with awareness of this wisdom available to us if we but calmly gaze within and without for the truth expressed here and elsewhere. So many before us have taught this and William only paints with a "brush" to help us develop a "canvas in UNITY" with the wisdom of the past that is needed now and in the unknown future.

Thank you William for your words that point to the wisdom lying within us that is born in the eternal mystery of life. And thanks to those who posted above this.

Ho Mitakuye Oyasin.

fp

[William Horden - Huffpost Blogger]

fp—

wonderful comment! thank you for weighing in on the side of loving-kindness and the light of the heart!

may people read your words and hear them echo in their souls!

All My Relations, indeed.
wm

[Michael101311]

Great article Bill! I've recently been contemplating the idea of "One Life" with many many different and varied experiences through the years. I've typically thought of reincarnation in the animal or human form, and never really expanded to any part of nature. Since all is an expression of the One, the limitless and infinite possibilities make it plausible.
Thanks for your Spriit, friendship and insight.
Peace, Michael

[William Horden - Huffpost Blogger]

Michael—

thanks for the lovely thoughts and well-wishes. i'm very glad this article came your way at an interesting time! funny how the same kind of messages and ideas come our way all at the same time, no? it's those synchronicities you gotta pay attention to!!

all my best,
wm

[alphalemming]

Thanking you for your words. They have been walking with me over the last few days.

What am I going to be when I die? Present. Wide awake. Alive.

"Sinking deeper", but somehow less fettered. Something less compulsory, and more conscious. Intuitively, I sense a rich vein here, but It is difficult to articulate, for even if I may have prior experience, I don't recall dying. Would you consider a future posting/s on Death? It seems maligned, misunderstood, misappropriated, and far too often goes without saying.

[William Horden - Huffpost Blogger]

alpha lemming—

thank you for the deep reading of the post. yes, "sinking deeper" does not mean more fettered, but more liberated and more ecstatic, a return to the Whole—the drop returning to the sea, as has been said for millennia. good intuition—future postings will indeed address the phenomenon of dying.

btw: great name you have there! expect to hear great things from you! lead on!

all my best,
wm

[Arithrianos]

For me there is only the Great Perfection, which can be described as one or many, these are only concept and as such has no hold on reality, they are only an approximation, a useful guess. The burning bush of reality is as you say ever present, it is always as is said closer than your next breath. This is expressed as the four fold nature, first there is the trikaya(threefold body), form, meaning, and spirit to summarize too much, and then there is the fourth body the inseparable unity of the other three, which is there only to make it explicit that we are not realy talking about 3 things or one thing, it is called interdependant co-arising. Not this not that not both and not neither.

[William Horden - Huffpost Blogger]

Arithrianos—thank you for the clear, concise, and cogent presentation of the Dharma. wishing you all the best, wm

[nolaeddie]

Of all the theories about the afterlife that have evolved throughout human history, I find this one to be the most comforting and the likeliest. However, it could also be wrong. Who really knows? Who really can know?

[William Horden - Huffpost Blogger]

nolaeddie—i'm glad that this common-sense approach to the sacred appeals to you. i don't know that anyone really can know. but it seems to me that we have to break out of whatever straight jacket our thoughts and perceptions might be in, seek the best evidence we can find, and trust our deepest intuitions. i wish you luck and happiness on your journey.

all my best,
wm

[garygach]

I'd say "this marks an auspicious beginning for a superb series, on living spirituality, as the world so clearly needs ..." but you've already trumped such mere rhetoric by inscribing on our consciousness the timelessness of this moment, in which past present future are but beads of light inter-reflecting on an eight-dimensional mandala of time light & love

so i'll just say thank you
take care

ONE MIND
ONE TRUTH
ONE EARTH
ONE LOVE

palms joined

_/!_

__________­__________­__________­__________­__________­__________­_________
p.s.
my rabbi translates the words from the burning bush as saying I AM WHAT I WILL BE

[William Horden - Huffpost Blogger]

garygach—bowing in return, brother. your open-heartedness and clear-sightedness are an example to us all. i think i see you glimmering over there in one of the nodes of the Net, reflecting all the beauty and love of the Whole. may your well-wishes return to you tenfold!

all my best,
wm

_/!_

[William Horden - Huffpost Blogger]

and p.s., gary—thank you so much for this piece of invaluable interpretation of the burning bush: I AM THAT I WILL BE......that is so amazing. it's now part of me! wm

[Bruce Eichelberger]

William,

It's wonderful to see you sharing your ideas in this forum. I always enjoy your thoughts and unique take on these issues.

In Western culture we've taken the focus on individual action to a very high level. Because of this it is possible to interpret such rugged individualism as somehow isolated from or even opposed to the concept of unity.

However I think people who make such an interpretation are missing the bigger picture. The reason I say this is that those I meet at the highest levels of individual achievement, always seem to also have the highest ability to perceive reality around them. They use this perception to work with the world (not against it) to accomplish their goals.

This is very much in line with Dr. Gurowitz' comments about the two Hebrew words for the concept of one. The individual, as a singular and unique unit among many (yachid), can only function at the highest levels when they become unified with the world (echad) through reason and understanding. This sort of unity makes the world theirs while at the same time giving them the insight and focus to benefit everything and everyone around them.

Or more simply put, one doesn't realize unity by faking reality.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[William Horden - Huffpost Blogger]

bruce—thank you for your insightful comment. your point about the conventional idea of individuality versus unity is wonderful: those achieving peak performance do not do so by ignoring reality but, rather, by merging with reality & placing the needs of the Whole above their own. we succeed when we make others' success important to us.....

thanks so much,
wm

[Bruce Eichelberger]

William,

I agree with most of what you say in your reply.

The part I would state differently is that rather than succeeding by putting the needs of the whole above their own, highly individuated and successful people see the common thread between their desires and the desires of the whole. They can then succeed by bringing something useful and valuable to the table, something that enriches their life along with everyone else.

In other words, they value their own needs equally with the whole, not below it. To place the needs of the whole above their own would be the worst kind of dualistic thinking.

This is a tricky point since the popular cultural meme says that someone with a large enough ego to equate their desires with those of the whole must be selfish or a megalomaniac. And by such standards I suppose they may be. However those who embrace this meme are typically not those who help make our lives more enjoyable and more productive. I think that's an important distinction.

Negation of the individual is just as deadly as negation of the whole, but for different reasons.

Best regards,

Bruce

[dragoncarver]

Inspiring article William.
A few years ago, as was my daily habit, I rode White Cloud, my all white appaloosa out to the beach to watch the sun set. This evening, however, a veil of fog shrouded the blazing ball and turned it into a seven tiered sun pagoda, with each tier extinguishing itself with a Green Flash * as it melted into the sea.
I leaped off White Cloud and began dancing and singing, "Halleluiah, Halleluiah, Halleluiah". My heart was filled with such joy when suddenly, way out on the waves at the horizon line, I heard coming toward me the sound of a 5000 voice choir singing the Halleluiah Chorus.
White Cloud's ears were up, His eyes big and wide, flashing with excitement at the approaching invisible sound. The two dogs began barking and running in circles as they do when people are coming to visit.
The immediacy of the moment was upon us.
All four of us, me, White Cloud, Ronja, and Goldie, turned our heads in unison as the invisible wall of music, louder than the breaking waves of the incoming tide, came right over us in full "crash-end-oh" and sped inland with a genuine fade-away effect.
White Cloud was adrenalized, as were Ronja and Goldie....it took them ten minutes to calm down. I am still tingling from that moment years later. And this is only one of dozens of similar experiences we have shared together.
* See Wickipedia

[William Horden - Huffpost Blogger]

dragoncarver—yes! that's all it's about: being alive and aware, seeing the world is alive and aware, moving outside ourselves into the Living Whole....

i don't think we have to be poets to live the poetic life. or artists to live the artistic life. or musicians to live the musical life. it's just a matter of refining our sensitivities to be able to fully appreciate our lives, to let life fully sink into the part of us that knows more than this body has experienced....it's almost like growing antennas, having a new sense organ.....

i saw the green flash in Australia. and it, too, was accompanied by an unearthly sound. and it too is a moment that is as fresh now as it was 20-some years ago. thanks for the reminder!

—and thanks so much for a great view of spirit galloping free in Spirit!

wm

[CoCreatorRadio]

Thank you William for a beautiful an inspiring post : )

[William Horden - Huffpost Blogger]

CoCreatorRadio—ah, thank you, folks! you do so much good for so many! Here's to year's of bringing people together! wm

[Akhilesh]

William,

Thank you for bringing your soul work out into the world. Enjoyed the post and will continue to track your blog-jewel here in the Net.

[William Horden - Huffpost Blogger]

Akhilesh—thanks so much, that means a great deal to me. Be Well & Ecstatic! wm

[colin83]

I really enjoyed the questions that this raises but like most times in life, your question produces more questions.

"What will you be when you die?"

I wonder why do I need to be anything? And to assume that I have control over what I may or may not be transformed into seems a bit presumptuous. Isn't that attachment in its most base form, if I truly believe that I have control in what I can become? Or why should I change if I'm already connected into the bigger fabric. What does that do for me? Seems like a regressive thought.

On the other hand, I immediately loved the Indra's Net world view concept. Especially since there is no qualitative aspect placed on particular jewels. Sometimes in our journey through life, it's so easy to get hung up on the differences instead of the true nature of things and people and other bits of life around us.

Great post. Looking forward to what comes next.

[William Horden - Huffpost Blogger]

colin83—

thanks for the thoughtful response and openness to the article as a whole.

to respond to your insightful question: i recall that a Tibetan Buddhist monk was asked "What will be your thoughts when you die?" and he responded, "I will simply be thinking, How May I Serve?"

from my perspective, approaching the moment of dying is not much different than other moments: it's a question of intent, not necessarily attachment. i do see your point and appreciate the language you are using. different cultures will have different ways of saying the same thing: i may no longer be a human being at all after my death—but whatever i become will be another part of the Whole. As for my friend in Dreamtime, he was already living here in this lifetime and not completely identifying with his body and its experiences! He was already "moving out" into a larger love for and sensitivity to this glorious creation.

—and i am so glad you appreciated the Indra's Net! it is one of the most beautiful concepts i've ever had the grace to encounter!

all my best,
wm

[Ed Gurowitz, Ph.D. - Huffpost Blogger]

William,

In Hebrew there are two words for "one" - echad and yachid. Yachid means one of several - a unit among many. Echad means unity - oneness without severality. In the Shema prayer, it says "adonai echad" - God is Unity.

Thank you for this take on unity. Thank you for your work.

[William Horden - Huffpost Blogger]

Ed—

thank you so much for the info: you know it goes straight into my files!

and thank you so much for your work—i especially admired your last post "What of 'What You Are' is No Longer You?" !!

all my best,
wm

[willowranch]

I like this article and the concepts in it a great deal. I will check out your book. Have you seen the Red Book by Jung recently released containing all of his artwork? The imagery is very shamanic.

[William Horden - Huffpost Blogger]

willowranch—thanks, i think you'll like the book. as for Jung's Red Book, I've been reading about it and am very excited: what a giant, no? all my best, wm

[boomer7391]

True.

[William Horden - Huffpost Blogger]

boomer7391­—beautiful­ly said. thank you. wm